I found this week pretty tough, but I've also learnt so much. Last year when I made the decision to leave my job, I had all these beautiful ideas of how I was going to spend my six months off during the summer.
While COVID 19 has put a stop to most of these plans, I was still getting to spend quality time with my family, which was one of the main reasons for leaving in the first place. Since leaving my job, we have been living in our little bubble, making the most of the weather and the Easter Holidays. As we had planned to be in Ibiza for the holidays, we decided to have our holiday at home instead. We have been having barbecues, mucking about in the garden, going on family walks in the forest and having lots of fun chatting with all our friends and family.
Then after the Easter Holidays, reality set in and we needed to get back to some form of normality. We have lots of things that need finishing on the house, I wanted to try and finish the first draft of my website, and my daughter was starting back at home school. So, with my husband needing to get on with the DIY and with me no longer working, I resumed my role as a teacher.
The first thing I noticed was that the work my daughter was being given had stepped up a notch from what she was doing before the break. That combined with a slow return from the holidays, she needed a lot more dedicated time from me to be able to keep motivated and complete all of the activities. To add to this, I volunteered to take on a piece of work to help with an ongoing legal issue.
When I agreed to do this, I had no idea just how much work was involved in gathering all of the facts and evidence needed. It took the best part of a week reading, researching and capturing enough information to allow me to produce the summary of points we needed. This combined with trying to get my website finished, video calls, WhatsApp messages, and Alexia's virtual after school activities, I went from having all the time in the world to having no time at all!
The other significant difference was that I wasn't getting any time to myself and until this week, hadn't quite appreciated just how much I needed it. The only time I was getting was if I went out for a run, used the bathroom or had a shower. While this gives you time to think, it doesn't allow you to capture your thoughts and ideas.
Then it suddenly dawned on me that the only person making this tough was me. I am no longer employed, so have the freedom to make decisions that work for my family and me. I can mute the WhatsApp messages and reply to them as and when I can and if I want to and I can make the decision on when I want to write a blog or when to publish my own website. I can also say no to things that don't work for either my family or me.
So not only have I learnt that it's essential to make time for yourself, that working full time and homeschooling is practically impossible to do effectively, but I have also learnt that just because you can do something doesn't mean you actually have to.
Comments